


Galarian Colors

by 823KE



Series: Insert OC [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/823KE/pseuds/823KE
Summary: On one exciting day, a new journey was about to begin for the Twinings siblings, Gloria and Victor, along with their childhood friend Hop, little brother of the Galarian Champion Leon. Then, within the forbidden Slumbering Weald, they met... some girl who just happened to be there?
Series: Insert OC [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1772437
Kudos: 5





	1. Start of a New Journey!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Pokémon Sword and Shield are quite an odd debacle. There's so much hate for the 8th Generation... but I'm not going to get into that. I genuinely enjoyed the series, and wish to be a part of it as well. And thus, I'm starting this second Insert OC series into the world of Pokémon, into Galar, into the story line of Pokémon Sword and Shield!

The sheets were comfy. Really, really comfy. Like, way too comfy. Way too comfortable for... comfort.

Actually, were these sheets really sheets? Certainly, they might look like mere, ordinary blankets from the outside.

Once you get underneath them, however, your entire world, your perception, your values... they all changed.

Wait... no. Holy shit. That was it.

It was a trap.

Blankets are traps. Deadly, terrifying traps.

This sort of innovative creativity... was this how they get people to not oppose the authorities?

She had just stumbled upon some forbidden knowledge.

Did everyone just plan on letting those bastards at the top go? Let them get away, scot-free, with brainwashing the masses like that?

No. She wouldn't allow that. The world needed to be saved.

And she was going to be that savior everyone needed.

Gloria Twinings, the one and only!

...right after she catches, maybe, five more minutes of sleep, of course. Just to test how deadly the blanket was, yes.

"...like hell you will!" An older woman's voice hissed, and suddenly, the cozy warmth was pulled away from her body, leaving the poor girl to suffer in the sudden onslaught of cold, chilly breeze. "I keep saying to get up! Your friend is here and have been waiting for ages!"

"Aeeyyaiyeayah!" Gloria screamed, tensing up and then shivering. "Mommmm! It's cold!" she whined.

Sighing, her mother tiredly walked over to her daughter's desk, picking up a remote and turning off the air conditioner. "There. I've defeated the winter for you."

"I didn't know my breakfast portion today was a dish of sarcasm," the girl mumbled.

"You would've gotten a plate of fried eggs and bacon if you actually woke up when I called," her mother said. "And now you might just miss it because I told Hop and Victor that they can share your portion if you don't get up soon enough."

"What!?" That got Gloria out of bed immediately. "That's not fair!"

"Yes, yes, the blanket was playing dirty. Now hurry up and get ready - today's the big day for you three, isn't it?" Her mother chuckled as she watched Gloria run to her closet, pulling out clothes after clothes while unbuttoning her own pajamas. "Best not keep anyone waiting too long."

"I got it, I got it!" Gloria said before taking in a deep breath. Then she shouted throughout the house. "Victor! Touch my eggs and you die, fried vermin!"

Within the dining room, through the house's open doors, the girl's brother jolted as he and their dark-skinned childhood friend looked up from the former's Rotom phone screen. The friend, Hop, let out a slightly amused laugh. "Gloria sure is loud," he said.

"Mngh..." Victor swallowed the last of his sister's bacon strip. "Never mind that. You think she's really going to kill me?"

"I dunno. You think?" Hop said.

The other boy shuddered. "I believe." Then he frowned. "Wait, why was I singled out?"

Hop shrugged. "You tell me."

"You ate her other bacon strip! We're accomplices!"

The purple haired boy gave another shrug, accompanied by his eyes looking away and his mouth forming such an irritating smile, that sometimes Victor wondered why they were friends at all.

Ah, right. Childhood friends. Funny.

"Anyways, let's continue watching Lee," Hop said, and his friend nodded, already distracted from impending doom.

As the screen showed a fierce and intense match between a dragon-like lizard and a steel tower monster, the two felt their spirits get heated up, excitement rising, their desires for battling almost exploding outwards.

Then they felt an aura of rage from behind.

"So... where are my bacon strips?" Gloria asked, the shine in her eyes missing.

Victor looked at her. "Uh... I... have no clue?" he squeaked.

After everyone spent a few minutes prying Gloria's hands off of her brother's throat, they gathered near the house entrance, the siblings having prepared their backpacks. "Alright, do you two have everything?" their mother asked. "Clothes? Hats? Shirts? Pants? Skirts? Shoes? ...clothes?"

"Mom, they're all clothes!" Gloria laughed. "You're worrying too much!"

"I know, it's just... Pokémon journeys aren't nothing to laugh at, you know?" the woman replied. "I remember back in the days, where your father and I were traveling together... oh, he was just so..."

"Oh, great. More dad stories," her daughter groaned. "Keep at it and we'll never make it to the beginning of our journey!"

"Isn't it called the beginning because you start there?" Victor asked.

"Gotta start from zero and move to the beginning first!"

Hop laughed. "Ms. Twinings, I'm sorry. We'll listen more after we get back!" he said.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot," the mother chuckled. "Your brother is coming home to give you three a Pokémon to start your journeys with, right?"

"Yeah!" Gloria confirmed. "Although Hop's already got his Wooloo though..."

"Hey! It's not my fault I caught Wooly first a long time ago!" Hop defended. "Besides, it's not fair if Lee only gives you two Pokémon."

"Not fair to start with two Pokémon..." the girl mumbled.

Victor chuckled. "Well, think of it this way. Maybe Hop's advantage will give us a real challenge. Do you think you'll lose?"

"My ass! I'll win!" Gloria yelled, flipping off the purple haired boy.

"Gloria!" her mother shouted.

"Uh-oh! I'm outta here!" the girl yelped and rushed out the door.

Sighing, her mother bowed courteously to Hop. "Please do forgive that girl of mine. Sheesh... so rude and competitive, I swear."

"Haha, no, it's alright, Ms. Twinings." Hop grinned. "There's no way she can beat me anyways. I'm the brother of Galar's Champion, after all!"

She nodded, a smile on her face. "Stay safe, Hop. And please do take care of Gloria for me. I can never rest worried when it's that girl..."

"What about me?" Victor asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I know you'll be fine. There's no one I know who's more responsible than you, after all." Patting her son's head, the woman flashed him a thumbs up. "Keep Gloria out of trouble now, alright, Vicky?"

"...mom, c'mon, that nickname is girly..." the boy mumbled, for once embarrassed, as Hop watched on with a grin.

"Vicky's cute, and you're cute, so I don't see the problem," the mother hummed as they began heading out the door. "Stay safe, now!"

"Bye, mom! We'll be back soon enough!"

As the two began heading down the stairs outside their home, they saw Gloria standing far ahead down the path, arms crossed and waiting for them.

"Hey! C'mon! You two are slowpokes!" Gloria shouted. "Like, actual Slowpokes! Slowpokes who are slowpokes! Slowpoke Slowpokes!"

"Sheesh, excited much?" Hop asked.

"Of course! We're going to get our first Pokémon, and I'm going to wipe everyone's ass! ...figuratively!" Gloria said with a nod.

"But can you do literal ass wiping?" Victor asked.

"O-of course I can! I... wait, why would I do that for any of you!?" Gloria shouted at her brother, her face flushed red. "Anyways, hurry it up, lickety-splits! I bet your brother's already crying about how slow you are!"

"Oh, yeah? I bet I'll get there first then!" Hop yelled back and suddenly sprinted off towards his house.

Gloria blinked, before growling. "Cheaters cheaters teeters neeners!" she yelled and ran after him, leaving Victor to watch his sister and friend run off confusedly.

"...where does she get all these weird words from?" he wondered before walking after their trails.

...

As it turned out, the famed Champion of Galar hadn't even arrived home yet, having been on his way to their neighboring town Wedgehurst. They had forgotten how bad the man was with directions, often running in different directions even with a finger pointing to his destination. Thus, the three had to head over to retrieve him from the arriving train at the town's station.

Getting through the crowd that gathered was pretty easy enough.

Having to fight the urge to continue watching as Leon kept knocking on wrong houses and wonder who the residents were, though... it almost made Gloria forget what was going to happen today.

Soon enough, all four were back at Hop's house, gathered together in the garden area.

"Geez, c'mon, Lee!" Hop said. "How could you forget where you live? It's literally a straight road up from Wedgehurst!"

The Champion scratched his head with a sheepish grin plastered on his face. "Haha, sorry, sorry. It just felt like Wedgehurst was the right place, y'know?"

"The right place to arrive, sure!" Hop said. "Oh, well. Should've remembered how bad you are with directions..."

Leon laughed. "Come on, Hop. Gotta give me credit for knocking on just two houses."

"Yeah, after we decided to call your name to get your attention!" Gloria said.

"I guess Leon will be forever bad with directions," Victor said, amused.

The Champion grinned. "Never mind that. Do you remember what day it is?"

"Of course we do!" Hop and Glora replied. "Do _you!?_ "

"Of course I do!" Leon said. "Why would I forget? I'm the one who's giving you three the Pokémon!"

"Oh, they're just worried that you might've accidentally gave the Pokémon away to some different house," Victor joked.

"...now that you say that..." Hop muttered before looking at his brother, worried. "...would you have..."

"No!" Leon said. "You guys need to have more faith in me!" Sighing, he opened a briefcase he had been carrying. Within were three Pokéballs, all of which he grabbed and threw upwards. A sensor within detected the motion and processed this, before releasing all three Pokémon within out into reality.

Bright red light struck three spots in front of them.

The first Pokémon was a green monkey with leaf-like tufts of hair on its head. A stick was embedded in its hair tufts, which, upon noticing its freedom, it grabbed the stick and scurried to the nearest tree in the garden, glancing at the three before losing itself in a rhythmic tapping fest using its stick.

Next, the second Pokémon was a white bunny with a yellow bandage-like mark across its face and orange-tipped ears. It looked around a bit before kicking up a piece of rock from the ground, kicking it away and chasing after it to kick it some more.

Lastly, the third Pokémon was a light blue chameleon with a frail expression, its eyes immediately watering up upon noticing three humans looking down at it. The critter jumped into the nearest garden pond immediately to hide from all who were present, only peering out slightly to see what they'd do.

"And there you have it. These are the three Pokémon you'll each pick from," Leon said. "The one on the tree is a Grookey. The one playing with the pebble is a Scorbunny. The one hiding in the pond is a Sobble. I doubt you guys wouldn't know, but you can tell what their types are, right?"

"That's easy!" Hop said. "Grookey's gotta be a Grass-type. And Sobble's clearly a Water-type!"

"I can see that too," Gloria said. "What about Scorbunny though? I can't really tell..."

The Champion's younger brother grinned, a proud huff escaping him. "Ha! Scorbunny's obviously gotta be Fire-type! How can you not know that?"

Gloria frowned. "How would you know that? It looks just like any ordinary white rabbit Pokémon to me..."

"Starter Pokémon given to beginning Trainers are always arranged in a certain formation, remember?" Victor reminded his sister. "Grass, Fire, and Water. And since Grookey is obviously Grass-type, and Sobble is obviously Water-type, then Scorbunny has to be..."

The girl gasped. "Fire-type! Holy shmizzle!"

"I mean, even the name is kinda obvious," Victor continued. "Scorbunny... Scorch bunny."

"Wooperdooper! You're right!"

 _Wooper dooper?_ Leon wanted to ask but knew not to pry her ocassionally questionable vocabulary. "So, have you guys decided who to pick yet?"

"Of course!" Hop said. "I'll be pickin-"

"Hold it, Hop!" Leon yelled, stunning his brother. "Since you already have a Pokémon, I was thinking you should let the other two pick first. It'd only be fair if their first Pokémon are of their own choices, right?"

Hop frowned. "Uh... well... yeah, I guess so." Sighing, he turned to the siblings. "Alright, you guys can go first." _Just don't pick that one, I hope..._ he thought.

"Alright! Then... Vicky! You go first!" Gloria said.

Victor groaned. "Please don't call me that. Mom's already enough," he mumbled before walking over to the pond. The Sobble that had been watching them squeaked and camouflaged itself, disappearing from their eyes.

"Whoa! What the!?" Gloria shouted.

Ignoring his sister's loud outburst, Victor knelt down. "Hey, little guy. It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered. Slowly, the Sobble revealed itself, glancing up at the boy. "I've made my decision since a long time ago. Would you like to come with me?" the boy asked.

The Water-type stared at him, unsure.

"I know that you'll be able to become a great Pokémon one day. And I'll become a great Pokémon Trainer, too." Victor smiled. "How about we work together?"

Quietly, the Sobble climbed out the pond and put one of its stubby hands onto the boy's extended hand. Then, it nodded. _"Mn."_

Victor chuckled. "Nice to meet you, little fella."

"Doodlyhoo... t-that was so touching..." Gloria cried, wiping her tears away.

 _Doodlyhoo..._ Leon felt even more curious, but held back. "Next up is you, Gloria. Who're you gonna pick?" he asked.

"Hm. Tough question." The brunette glanced over to the remaining Pokémon - the Grookey and Scorbunny had stopped playing around, watching her curiously. "I've only got those two left, huh... what to do..."

"Pst... Gloria!" Hop whispered. The girl stared at him, as he winked to her, hoping his not-telepathic thoughts would somehow be sent to her telepathically.

She raised an eyebrow, before huffing amusedly. "Hmph. I know what you're thinking, Hop... and I can see right through you!"

Hop flinched. "Uh, what? I didn't, uh, s ay anything, nope."

Gloria grinned. "You think I'm stupid, do you? I bet you wanted me to pick Grookey," she said. "However! Even I know that Grass-type is weak to Fire-type... so too bad! I'll be picking Scorbunny!" She ran over to the Fire-type, who raised an eyebrow at her. "So, what do you say, Scorbunny? Let's team up and show all of them who's boss!"

Scorbunny tilted its head, before smiling. _"Mwah!"_ it squealed, liking this fierce and energetic attitude its new Trainer had.

Hop smiled. "Alright. Guess I'll be going with Grookey then!" he said, his fists clutching happily.

Gloria blinked as the purple haired boy went to the tree the Grookey was atop. "You don't look so sad. Wait! Was I duped!?" she said.

"Nah, I think you just jumped to the wrong conclusion and happened to help him get what he wanted," Victor said. "Are you going to change your mind though?"

"...hm. Nah. I like this fella," Gloria said and picked up her Scorbunny, petting its head. "Besides, I can probably still beat you anyways."

Leon grinned watching all three interact with their Pokémon. "Good, good. Getting close and bonding with your new partners already! I like you three. Now how about some trial battles and practice? I bet you all are dying to test out your beginning Trainer potential!"

"You bet we are!" Gloria and Hop shouted. The two glanced at each other before grinning, knowing who their first opponents will be - if not each other, who else but, well, each other? "It's on!" they said.

Until they suddenly heard a faint crash in the distant, followed by some cries of concern from the direction of the Twinings household.

All four ran out onto the route to see some people rushing over. "C-Champion Leon!?" one of them yelled. "Good timing! You've got to help!"

"What's wrong!?" Hop yelled as his brother nodded.

"One of the Wooloo escaped the farm and began tackling the fence leading to the Slumbering Weald!"

"What!? But that's off-limits!" Gloria said. "Why would it do that? Is it stupid!?"

"Well, it is just a Wooloo after all," Victor said.

Leon rubbed his chin. "So, it managed to enter the forest, huh? That's not good..."

"Please get it back for us!" the farmers requested. "We don't have any experience with battling, so we can't really go in there to search for it ourselves..."

"Yeah, there are dangerous Pokémon deep within there, so it's best you stay here," Hop said. "We'll all go and find it, don't worry! C'mon, Lee! Vicky! Gloria!"

"Not you too..." Victor muttered, before sighing and nodding.

Leon nodded before looking back at the briefcase he left open. "You guys go on, I need to put the bag away and prepare some stuff. I'll follow afterwards!" he said as he ran back to his briefcase.

"Alright, don't take too long!" Hop said and ran back towards the direction of the Twinings household.

"Hey, wait for us!" Gloria yelled, dragging Victor along.

The farmers watched with concern as the three went through the broken fence, heading into the Slumbering Weald. Then, they saw Leon rush out his house, fully prepared. They smiled as he rushed past them... into their farms, scaring their Wooloo away. "...uh, wait, Mr. Leon..." they mumbled before their voices were drowned out by the Champion.

"Hey! Lost Wooloo! Where are you!?" he asked.

"Mr. Leon, the Slumbering Weald is to the left!"

"Wait, stop, Mr. Leon! You're scaring all our Wooloo!"

* * *

Although the forest was filled to the brim with unsettling mist, her vision wasn't completely obscured.

Yet, the atmosphere was really a perfect match for a dark and forbidden forest.

Looking around, the girl saw some wild Pokémon wandering around, before they noticed her and scurried away.

Confused, the girl mumbled under her breath, "Who the hell starts their journey in a scary forest..."

Then, she heard footsteps from behind. The girl turned her head slightly to see three... people she assumed were teens, coming to a stop upon seeing her.

"Uh." That's all. That's all she could really mouth.

Gloria blinked. And then... "There's a girl in the Slumbering Weald!" she yelled, pointing unnecessarily to the mysterious, black-haired woman.

"What the heck!?" Hop chimed in, confused by this sudden turn of events. "D-don't tell me... the Wooloo became a human girl!?"

"Seriously!?"

"There's no way that's possible," Victor said, before rubbing his chin as he looked at the stranger lying on her legs.

Said woman scratched her head, unsure of what to do, before she opened her mouth.

"Um... am I not supposed to be here?" she asked.

The three exchanged glances, before Victor decided to talk. "Um, miss, we're in the Slumbering Weald."

"...okay," she replied.

"...the Slumbering Weald is off-limits."

She blinked. "Oh."

"Are you an undercover spy!?" Gloria asked.

"...um, no." The girl got up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. _Of all the starting places, it's an off-limits forest in the wild? Great move._ She sighed before looking back at the three. "So... hey. My name's Hachi Hatsumi."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three huddled together and began whispering to themselves.

"She just suddenly introduced herself to us..."

"Doesn't sound like a responsible and careful spy!"

"Maybe she can help us find the Wooloo while she's here. I mean..."

"What if she's here to kidnap the Wooloo!?"

"What!? We can't let that happen! We must find it before her!"

"...oh, well, whatever."

The woman, meanwhile, could hear everything that was being discussed, and sighed. _Why am I here at all...?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with before, things to note:  
>    
>  1) There's a lot of personal dimension/universe/etc. theories incorporated into the shaping of these IOC stories, and fourth walls have an actual place in it. I'll try not to utilize too much fourth wall humor, but they will exist from time to time. Feel free to walk away from the story if you dislike that.  
>    
>  2) I initially planned on using Mikan Hatsumi for this IOC, but she's currently in my other IOC story, Terrarian. I could theoretically have another of her in this story at the same time, but it'd involve a lot of the aforementioned personal theories for dimensions and universes, etc, which I want to save for way later when we reach a good point, so... I'm putting a different non-fandom-specific OC who I haven't really used yet. Once again, meet Hachi Hatsumi. I'll give more details on her next chapter. (I'll also start a third IOC story soon after this chapter. Hooh boy, I'm making way too much work for myself...)


	2. The Slumbering Weald (part 1)

Her day had been relatively simple. She was just relaxing in her own time, lounging around the household, occasionally interacting with the other inhabitants of the mental space she resided in. It wasn't quite often that she got to talk with anyone here, especially since she had been an unfinished creation at the moment.

Then, the oh-so-lovable and irritating pseudo sister of hers, one of the most used representative of the household, entered the room.

"Hey, Hachi, why don't you try out an insertion?" the question went, or so that's basically how it sounded.

She had given the red haired girl, Mikan Hatsumi, an odd look in response.

"That's a weird way to talk about a lewd illustration debut," she replied.

The pseudo sister raised an eyebrow. "What? No, not that. I meant putting yourself into a story. An insert story. You know?"

"Oh. Uh. Nah, it's fine." A moment of silence passed. "Oh, you mean that thing you're doing with Terraria?"

"Yeah. Our Voice started another thing, one thing led to another, and I got permission from this new mimicblood to let one of our members get involved in their world and make a story," Mikan said. "It won't even take up your time, we'll just send in a fragment to do the work."

Hachi sighed and shut the book she had been reading. "I'm not sure how that works... but, well, I guess if it won't actually take up my free time, then okay."

Mikan smiled. "Alright! Let's get going, then." She motioned for the girl to follow her.

The ravenette glanced down at her reading companion, a humanoid girl made out of brown, translucent slime. "...well, I'll be going for a while. I guess."

Known by the name Terra - not the one from another story - the slime girl simply nodded. "...tell Mikan... I want to hang out... too."

Nodding, the girl followed after her pseudo sister of sorts.

...

"So how does this work?" she asked, coming to a stop in front of a large portal, isolated within a room of its own. To her right was Mikan, and to her left was a... horse? ...some sort of wild, whacky creature with four legs, and some sort of yellow, holy ring surrounding its body.

"Well, it's pretty simple. Put your hand to the portal and your consciousness will be fragmented," Mikan answered. "Then you're done. The fragmented you goes to the new world and starts their story. Afterwards you can go and do whatever. The new memories will return to you after the story's done."

"...that sounds pretty simple."

 _"(There are no complicated matters that are_ required,)" the creature next to her said.

Hachi slowly nodded. "Um... right. By the way..."

"Wow, you haven't played Pokémon at all, have you?" Mikan asked. "That's an Arceus, basically the God of Pokémon worlds."

"Ohhh. ...well it's not like I've played any of the games," Hachi mumbled. "Not like I get the chance to play them. Your cockroach monster girl keeps playing all of your games, last I checked..."

"Hey, Phreia's a lovely, freeloading Pheromosa. And like, I've got unlimited games in this mental space," Mikan said. "She can't hoard them when there's infinite copies of everything here. You didn't check?"

"...n-no... and consoles too?"

"Yeah. ...besides, have you tried going to bed with her?" Mikan felt her cheeks flush hot as she thought back to her own kinky times. "Phreia's always a wild monster when we-"

"Yeah, I don't need to hear that stuff," the ravenette muttered, getting embarrassed. "Is there anything else I should know before I fragment myself?"

"Hmm, let's see... oh, right! Let's set the story rule," Mikan said.

Hachi blinked. "Story rule?"

"Yeah, story rule." The red-haired pseudo sister cleared her throat. "To prevent things like stories of clichéd prophesized ones - ahem, Mary Sues, Gary Stues, etc, etc - we set certain rules or effects that governs our time in these insert stories," Mikan explained. "The one my fragment went into, Terrarian, is that I can't talk to the Voice. Basically, the other inhabitants of the world may hear and talk with the Voice should he feel like breaking the fourth wall, but I cannot rely on his gamer knowledge to help my lighten up my experience in that world."

"Uh... right." The ravenette didn't really get any of that, but she assumed it was important.

"And so, we'd like to ask for your assistance in keeping this rule intact," Mikan said to the Arceus besides her.

 _"(...understood. This one's journey shall be governed to keep not break the set law,)"_ it replied.

Hachi scratched her head. "What's the rule though?"

"For yours, let's see... oh, here it is. The Voice states... _Hachi is not allowed to progress the game story._ Oh... oooohh. Wow."

"...what does that mean?" she asked.

Mikan shrugged and tossed the piece of paper behind her. "Nothing you should concern yourself with for now. Anyways, that's all to say, so... put your hand to the portal, girl."

"...uh, sure." The girl hesitantly looked to the portal before raising her hand to touch the surface with her palm. A strange feeling enveloped her, and within seconds... the feeling went away. And she was... fine? "...huh."

"Welp, you're done here!" Mikan said. "Wish good luck to the you who's in another world now, and we'll be on our way."

"...kinda anti-climactic," Hachi remarked, before she realized the Arceus who had been near them was no longer in the room with them.

* * *

And so, she appeared in the mysteriously eerie woods, and soon after, encountered these three teens from who knows where.

Hachi sighed as they continued discussing her not-so-discretely. Somehow, she had a feeling that she'd be forced to adventure with them after this whole thing is done. Maybe she should've borrowed her pseudo sister's Nintendo Switch and Pokémon Sword or Pokémon Shield games to play on and learn the story. _Oh, well. I'm sure it won't be that hard._

 _Still, though... I wonder what they meant by 'rule'._ That was something she genuinely didn't get.

_"To prevent things like stories of clichéd prophesized ones - ahem, Mary Sues, Gary Stues, etc, etc - we set certain rules or effects that governs our time in these insert stories," Mikan explained. "The one my fragment went into, Terrarian, is that I can't talk to the Voice. Basically, the other inhabitants of the world may hear and talk with the Voice should he feel like breaking the fourth wall, but I cannot rely on his gamer knowledge to help my lighten up my experience in that world."_

On top of being quite pointless and a pain, Hachi wondered what was wrong with being a clichéd protagonist anyways. Was it really that bad?

 _"For yours, let's see... oh, here it is. The Voice states..._ Hachi is not allowed to progress the game story. _Oh... oooohh. Wow."_

Not allowed to progress the game story? What did that even mean? That didn't sound like a limit set upon her experience at all.

Was there a penalty for if she decided to progress through the story, whatever that meant? In fact...

Hachi glanced at the three. They seemed to have been in search of a Wooloo - whatever that was - so... if she helped, would she be punished? Would it strike her the moment she offered to help, or when she found it, or even for considering it? ...well, only one way to tell.

"Hey, uh... you three are searching for someone in here, right?" she asked.

"That's right! But I bet you already knew that!" Gloria confirmed. "What're you here for? Who do you work for!?"

Hachi rolled her eyes. "I'm not a spy, seriously. Look, since I'm already here too, I might as well as help out, right?"

Hop rubbed his chin. "Well, that _is_ a tempting offer..."

Sighing, Victor shook his head. "Guys, I think she really just ended up here somehow... let's drop the spy thing and take her help," he said. "And then afterwards we can help her out of this forest too."

"Gosh, you're right!" Gloria said. "Smart thinking, Vicky! Alright, girl, follow us and search for a Wooloo!"

 _Vicky?_ Hachi slowly formed an amused smile, not big enough to be noticed however. "Uh, sure... my name's Hachi, by the way."

"Hachi? Nice to meet you, Hachi!" the other girl yelled. "I'm Gloria!"

"And I'm Hop!" Hope chimed.

"I'm Victor," Victor greeted. "Please don't think I'm Vicky."

The ravenette chuckled. "Alright, Victor. By the way, uh... what's a Wooloo look like?"

All three stared at her, blinking in confusion.

"You don't know how a Wooloo looks like!?" Gloria yelled. "Where did you even come from!?"

Hop rubbed his chin. "It's impossible to get in this forest without passing by the neighbor's Wooloo farm... how'd you get here, seriously?"

Hachi scratched her head. "Eh... that's a long story... maybe."

"I don't think a normal person would suddenly be hanging around, sitting in a forbidden forest, so..." Victory narrowed his eyes. "I doubt she's from around here, much less if she's from Galar at all. Maybe something weird is happening around here...?" He blinked, before shaking his head. "Never mind that for now. You want to know what a Wooloo is, right?"

The girl nodded. "Wooloo... in farms, so... are they, like, sheep? Because wool and farms... yeah?"

"Huh, so you do know what they are," Hop noted.

"Well, I can guess now, but please tell me a bit about how it looks like," Hachi said. "I'm sure there are many different sheep Pokémon in this world."

"Hm... I know of around five species that are sheep," Victor said. "But only two are native to our region, so I don't think you have to worry. You'll recognize it when you see it."

"Uh... well, if you say so, I guess..." Hachi nodded and turned around.

"Alright!" Gloria cheered. "So we're all set then! Let's score through the forest and find that Wooloo!"

Hop grinned. "I bet I can find it first!" he said and took a headstart, running deeper into the woods.

"Hey! That's cheap!" Gloria called after him and ran deeper as well.

"Ah, wait, we shouldn't... separa... oh, boy," Victor sighed. "There they go, running off into the nothingness of the off-limits forest."

"Energetic, aren't they?" Hachi remarked.

"Quite." Victor glanced at Hachi for a while, before he closed his eyes. "Sorry, but I really need to keep an eye on them. Can I..."

She smiled and waved her hand away. "It's fine, go ahead," the ravenette told the boy. "I'll be fine in here, and I think splitting up helps us cover more ground anyways. You go make sure those two don't get into trouble, and I'll keep an eye out for any Wooloo sheep around."

Nodding, Victor headed off running towards where Hop and Gloria had scurried off to.

...

The path through the forest was surprisingly not so hard to grasp. If she didn't know any better, it was like the so-called 'forbidden woods' had been cleared in a way that made it... not so easy to get lost in? Not that she really knew the specifics of the generic forest clearing process, or whatever it's called.

What's odd is that she hadn't caught up to nor ran into those three teens from earlier at all, though.

 _I didn't take some sort of wrong turn, did I...?_ the girl thought. _That can't be. The layout here is way too obvious and basic, there's no way I could've gotten lost. Those kids though..._ Hachi scratched her head. Maybe she should turn back and search around for those three instead...?

_...no, they were really energetic, so it's unlikely I'd be ahead of them._

Shaking her head, Hachi continued on her way, keeping her eyes peeled open through the strangely thickening mist of the woods.

It was another good four to five minutes before she ended up on a path that was so straight, it obviously seemed like she was getting closer to some important location. The mist became extremely thick the deeper she walked the path, so she tensed herself, bracing for something to happen anytime soon.

And then...

_"(You'd do well to stop there, girl.)"_

A strange, intangible yet comprehensible voice resounded in her head.

The girl whipped around immediately, only to find no one behind her. She looked around, searching for the source of the voice, to no avail.

_"(If you proceed any further, you will violate the rule placed upon you.)"_

Now that she thought about it... Hachi recognized this strange 'voice'. "You're that creature from... you're Arceus," she whispered.

It seemed to nod, wherever it was. _"(Indeed. Turn back before you suffer the consequences. It is still too early.)"_

Hachi tilted her head. "...I've been wondering about that," she began uncertainly. "I'm still not... entirely sure I understand this whole 'story rule' thing. If you're following me... can you, um, explain a bit more for me?"

The voice remained silent for a while. Then it spoke. _"(Very well. You shall be granted an opportunity to experience what is to be expected.)"_

 _I just want more details though..._ the ravenette thought.

_"(Step forward and continue down the path. You will be returned and healed afterwards.)"_

Hachi took a deep breath. _Healed. It said 'healed', didn't it?_ she wondered before taking a step forward. Something grew within her, a huge feeling of discomfort, a sense of dread. _It said healed._ She took another step forward - the feeling grew bigger. _It's a painful punishment?_ Another step. Worsening dread. _So I can't contribute to the game's plot._ And another step. And another. Another.

It's sickening.

She felt as if she'd throw up everything she had ate earlier before fragmenting herself to this world, this story, but at the same time, she knew she wasn't going to do that. Exploding body parts also wasn't likely to happen, as although a weird sort of 'pain' or something was spreading throughout her body, it wasn't exactly 'painful' per se.

And then...

_"WARNING. BREACH OF CONDUCT DETECTED. TURN BACK."_

A machine-like voice echoed through the forest, through her head, her vision tinting red as if an intruder alarm was going off.

"H... huh...?"

_"WARNING. BREACH OF CONDUCT DETECTED. TURN BACK."_

Hachi grunted, blocking one ear in an attempt to lessen the volume.

"What... is this..." she was barely able to ask.

 _"(Ignore the warning. Proceed if you wish to experience the consequences.)"_ The voice didn't seem to hold even a shred of concern for her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, in spite, if not in the growing headache she was getting. And on one hand, maybe she didn't want to know anymore, what the deal is with this story rule shtick. On the other hand, at least she'll know when not to overstep her boundaries, as the girl doubted the world's Arceus would be so kind as to warn her any other times.

Slowly she began shutting off the loud, screeching warning in her head, letting it blend into the environmental noise while she continued taking small steps forward.

_"WARNING. BREACH OF CONDUCT DETECTED. TURN BACK."_

_"WARNING. BREACH OF CONDUCT DETECTED. TURN BACK."_

_"WARNING. BREACH OF CONDUCT DETECTED-"_

A burst of dark purple appeared behind her, and, sensing a heavy atmosphere of darkness, she turned around only to see a strange formation of stone slabs sporting a malicious painting of a grinning serpent on it. Shadowy tendrils sprouted from the stones and wrapped around her right arm, to her shock, to her confusion, to her fear.

It lasted only around a second, the sudden burning, searing pain that spread through her right arm.

Then she lost that arm to a splash of blood, dyeing a small area around her crimson red.

Hachi shrieked, in intense fear and pain, falling backwards as the stone slab creature seemed to grin despite its runes not moving a bit. It disappeared into the void it came from, leaving her to fall on her rear, leaking both tears and blood from her eyes and her lost arm.

And then she was back, standing on the straight pathway, staring ahead.

The girl blinked, then looked to her right to notice that her arm was still intact.

She was safe.

...but a decent spot ahead of her was still dyed red.

Hachi felt her body shiver.

 _That was real,_ she thought. _That was real. My arm was..._

 _"(You have felt and experienced the consequences of breaking the set rule,)"_ Arceus' voice resonated in her head once more. Before she could cuss at it or even form questions in her head, it seemed to be satisfied with itself. _"(Now you are advised not to overstep your boundaries in the future. Do be careful.)"_ With that, it stopped talking, and she felt its presence - sort of - 'disappear'.

"...what did I get myself into...?" the ravenette asked herself, beginning to think fragmenting herself into the Pokémon world was a huge mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Hachi Hatsumi**  
>  A girl with straight, waist-length black hair, and silver eyes.  
>  New to existence, creation-wise, so she doesn't quite know her life goal or purpose yet.  
>  She'll do what she's told to do if it doesn't seem wrong.  
>    
>  This second chapter is what I really wanted to actually start with. A brief look into my fictional, imaginary 'family' or group structure and some cameos from other original characters I have, so they don't rot in my head without ever appearing anywhere. 'Fragmentation' is a concept I sort of have, inspired by the ending to Aneko Yusagi's _The Rising of the Shield Hero_ web novel. (I'm not explainig that though, spoilers.) But anyways, I thought it'd be pretty boring to start the first chapter with this, so I kept to the game's introduction parts instead and moved the original stuff here.  
>    
>  And hey. Can you guess what happened during the breach of conduct? I'm not sure if I put enough details (I'm not confident in my writing), but I'm sure anyone can figure out what took her arm. Speaking of which, the hell is with me and trying to put my characters through hell? The Etrian Odyssey Re:Told collab's Remilia losing an eye, the Love Live -FANTASY- spinoff with Anju losing an eye, and now my own character Hachi getting her right arm blown off? I need to read something wholesome to clean my head, sheesh.


End file.
